Aruta Soup: High Alert

About

Powen Gallery is pleased to present HIGH ALERT by the Japanese urban artist ARUTA SOUP. Blending gentleness and defiance, ARUTA SOUP transforms this contradiction into vibrant cartoons and graffiti, all while unveiling the artist's more critical creative psyche. The bandaged bunny, caught between the conflicting realms of public and private, seeks to resolve these subtle everyday conflicts.

ARUTA SOUP received his training at Central Saint Martins and Camberwell College of Arts, respectively. During his eight-year stay in London, he frequented street corners, where he observed the urban landscape firsthand. He was particularly drawn to the highly visible street art in the graffiti scene. Whether created in a flash mob-like fashion or with meticulous care, graffiti has consistently been used by artists as an outlet for expressing civil discontent and as a symbol of social rebellion. Similarly, ARUTA SOUP's desire for inner freedom is evident in the numerous bunny compositions.

ZERO, the protagonist featured in nearly all of ARUTA SOUP's works, is visibly detached from their surroundings, drifting from one scene to another. Their self-conceptualization is repeatedly wounded and reconstructed in daily social scenarios. The bandages on ZERO suggest both injuries and protection, implying that ZERO, an active participant in life, writes their own stories and gives life their all. Perhaps ZERO serves as a reminder that we, the viewers, too, have all grown to depend on layers of self-preserving mechanisms, while ZERO, with their distinctive turquoise color and profound gaze, perpetually clings to the yearning to heal.